March Mammal Madness

Welcome to March Mammal Madness! This library guide is your official location for MMM tournament information, educational materials, resources to help you fill out your bracket, and tournament results. On this guide you'll find:

• A dedicated portal for educators with bracket guides, lesson plans and learning materials.
• Age-appropriate resources for different levels of learners.
• A players page for our dedicated MMM community.
• Official results each night of the tournament.
• An archive of March Mammal Madness tournaments past.

A quick guide to understanding MMM:

Since 2013, March Mammal Madness asks the question “Who Would Win?” when two animals encounter each other in an absurdly complex and wonderfully nerdy way… a simulated tournament within a structured game universe!!!

Rules of the MMM game universe

• Combatants are arranged in a four division, single elimination tournament.
• Combatants have assigned seeds 1-16, with “1” being the best ranked combatant and “16” being the worst ranked combatant in the Division.
• Unless otherwise stated on the bracket, a single combatant at peak performance condition represents the species.
• To be defeated, a combatant perishes on or retreats from the “field of battle.”
• Field of Battle in the first three rounds is determined by the combatant’s seed. The better or lower seeded combatant has home habitat advantage and the worse/higher seeded combatant is the visitor.
• Field of Battle in the last three rounds- the Elite Trait, the Final Roar, and the Championship, the battle location is randomized among 4 possible habitats.

How battle outcomes are determined

• A teaMMM of scientists research the combatants and their habitats and estimate probability that combatant A wins vs. combatant B wins within the specific habitat.
• Attributes considered in estimating battle outcome include temperament, weaponry, armor, body mass, speed, fight style, physiology, and motivation.
• From that probability estimation, a random number generator determines the outcome of the encounter and which combatant advances in the tournament. This allows for the possibility, if not the probability, of upsets (a worse ranked combatant defeating a better ranked combatant).

How battle outcomes are revealed

• The outcomes of the encounters between combatants are revealed in the form of a play-by-play as though being observed in real time by the scientist announcer reminiscent of a radio sports announcer.
• The scientist uses published research about the species and their environment to create an evidence-based play-by-play, turning science into a story. Dramatic reveals, plot twists, and unexpected events may be used to explain the outcome of the combatant encounters.

1. Get your bracket through your portal! Are you a Player or a Learner? (Educators, we have you covered too!)
2. Pick your winners before the Wild Card begins!
3. Follow the action live on Bluesky each night of the tournament or check the Tournament Results page for play-by-plays, summaries and videos.
4. Links to the results are also posted on the March Mammal Madness Facebook Page.

While the exact dates of the tournament change every year, here is a fairly general tournament schedule to help with annual planning. Game nights are usually Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 5 PM Pacific time / 8 PM Eastern.

• February 2: Groundhog Day! Educator materials request form opens, tournament pre-season begins!
• February 12: Darwin Day! Division reveals
• Third Thursday of February: Brackets and educational materials are released!
• Second Monday of March: Tournament begins with the Wild Card match!
• First Monday of April: Championship!